March 2, 2019

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Donald Trump & Kim Jong Un Are Just Like Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

March 1, 2019

Evers proposes 8-cent gas tax hike as budget checks off string of Democratic priorities

Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday issued a blueprint for reshaping state government after eight years of GOP control, proposing a boost in the minimum wage, the repeal of drug testing for those on food stamps and a goal of all electricity produced in Wisconsin being carbon free by 2050.

The Dem’s first state budget also would increase the state’s gas tax by 8 cents a gallon. His office estimated that would cost the typical driver $3 a month and contribute to a $520 million bump to the transportation fund over the next two years.

But he also coupled that hike with a call to eliminate the minimum markup on gas, which his administration said would largely blunt the impact of the gas tax increase.

Likewise, he is seeking to cap a tax credit for manufacturers, limit exclusions for capital gains and update the state’s tax code to match federal law. Those moves, combined with efforts to improve collections of what’s already owed the state, would generate $1.6 billion in additional tax money.

Read more: https://www.wispolitics.com/2019/evers-proposes-8-cent-gas-tax-hike-as-budget-checks-off-string-of-dem-priorities/

March 1, 2019

German Firefighters Work To Free Rotund Rat Stuck In Manhole Cover

A plump rat stuck in a manhole cover spurred volunteer firefighters and animal rescue workers to act in Bensheim, Germany, over the weekend.
BERUFSTIERRETTUNG-RHEIN-NECKAR / AP


Sometimes the lowly sewer rat is the target of shrieks, kicks and extermination attempts. And sometimes yesterday's vermin becomes today's vaunted victim, inspiring a phalanx of rescuers to come to its aid.

At least that is what happened over the weekend in Germany, where a firefighter-cum-corpulent-critter rescue crew worked to free the animal in a pinch with a manhole cover.

An employee with the animal rescue group Rhein-Neckar had tried and failed to save the rat in the town of Bensheim on Sunday, the Auerbach Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement. Realizing reinforcements were needed, firefighters were called in. No matter that they were responding to a "small animal" rescue call — they arrived aboard their firetruck, armed with equipment and decked out in full gear.

Operation rat disgorgement was underway.

At least eight firefighters encircled the manhole, taking in the animal's pitiful plight. The rat was secured with a loop at the end of the pole, then the crew propped up the cover, held aloft with wedges. The suspended rodent wiggled as a firefighter worked a glove underneath in an effort to gently pop it out. It took some maneuvering, but finally the rat was released.

Read more: https://www.tpr.org/post/watch-german-firefighters-work-free-rotund-rat-stuck-manhole-cover

March 1, 2019

New Hope For Texas City's Bitmine

After grabbing headlines last August by announcing it would build the country’s largest bitcoin mine in Rockdale, Texas, the Chinese cryptocurrency company, Bitmain, suspended operations six months later and let go of most of its staff.

In that six-month period the price of Bitcoin, the virtual currency that is one of the company’s chief commodities, had plummeted by more than half. Bitmain reportedly shed staff globally and shut down a facility in Israel.

Bitcoin are created by slow, computer-intensive processes known as mining.

But now there may be another reversal in Rockdale’s hopes to become a cryptocurrency player. Milam County officials said the company will continue the project.

Read more: https://www.tpr.org/post/new-hope-texas-citys-bitmine

March 1, 2019

Numbers Game: If Democrats Can't Turn Out Voters in the District 125 Runoff, the GOP Could Flip

Numbers Game: If Democrats Can’t Turn Out Voters in the District 125 Runoff, the GOP Could Flip Another San Antonio District


How do you turn a traditionally Democratic district Republican?

These days, the answer may be simple as calling a special election.

Last year, Pleasanton Republican Pete Flores flipped one of San Antonio’s state Senate seats after advancing to a runoff special election against Pete Gallego, the Democrat widely considered to have the election sewn up.

Next month, a similar situation could play out in a runoff for District 125, a Texas House seat representing Northwest San Antonio that was once considered dependably blue.

Read more: https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2019/02/28/numbers-game-if-democrats-cant-turn-out-voters-in-the-district-125-runoff-the-gop-could-flip-another-san-antonio-district

March 1, 2019

Court Says Jury Can't Strip Mongols Biker Club Of Its Trademarked Logo

The Los Angeles-based Mongols motorcycle club will not be stripped of its trademarked logo any time soon, after a federal judge essentially overruled a jury's decision to deprive the group of its collective symbol.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana said Thursday that the jury ruling violated club members' 1st Amendment rights to free association and expression and their 8th Amendment protection against excessive penalties.

"It is beyond question that the Government has a legitimate interest in attacking the economic roots of a criminal organization like the Mongol Nation," Carter wrote in his 51-page ruling. But he said forcing the club to forfeit its rights associated with the symbol the group has used since 1969 "is unjustified and grossly disproportionate."

In January, a jury, in a first-of-its kind verdict, agreed with federal prosecutors to strip the Mongols of the logo – an image of a goateed Genghis Khan-like figure wearing sunglasses and a ponytail riding a chopper, below the club name. Prosecutors argued that the Mongols are a criminal gang and their logo is central to their outlaw identity which "they wear like armor."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/28/699199078/court-says-jury-can-t-strip-mongols-biker-club-of-its-trademarked-logo

March 1, 2019

Demand for legal marijuana in Illinois would far exceed licensed growers' ability to supply it

Demand for legal marijuana in Illinois would far exceed licensed growers' ability to supply it, a new study shows


Legal recreational marijuana in Illinois could drive demand as high as 550,000 pounds a year, far more than the state’s licensed growers can supply, according to a new study commissioned by state legislators.

The study, performed by the Colorado consulting firm Freedman & Koski, lends support to those who argue that Illinois’ fledgling marijuana industry should expand and diversify, allowing the participation of more black and Latino entrepreneurs — people whose communities have disproportionately suffered during America’s war on drugs.

“We have a whole industry that’s treating it like the gold rush, but you have generations of folks who are still living with all the impacts of what the criminal justice system did to them,” said Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Chicago Heights. “It’s unfair to discuss this in any other way.”

The possibility of full marijuana legalization has stirred up a robust lobbying effort from many of the state’s 16 licensed growers, who have said that absent proof to the contrary, they believe they are capable of meeting demand. Their industry group, the Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois, has said adding more cultivators could lead to a marijuana glut that would encourage illegal diversion.

Read more: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-illinois-legalized-marijuana-study-20190228-story.html

March 1, 2019

Bernie Sanders coming to Chicago but won't endorse in mayoral race

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders returns to the city on Sunday on the first swing of his second Democratic presidential primary bid, but he has no plans to jump into Chicago mayoral politics.

Although his visit comes on the heels of the city’s first mayoral vote, Sanders told me Thursday he won’t endorse a candidate in the upcoming runoff between Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle. Meanwhile, in regards to his repeat run for president, he pledged to release 10 years of income tax returns, despite years of declining to do so.

Sanders, a University of Chicago alum, is starting his campaign reminding voters about his biography.

The Vermont senator attended Brooklyn College — not far from where he was raised — and headlines a rally there on Saturday.

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/advance-chicago-swing-bernie-sanders-pledges-release-10-years-taxes/

March 1, 2019

Preckwinkle says Lightfoot's $200K donation to self undermines reform reputation

Lori’s Lightfoot’s decision to make a $200,000 contribution to her own campaign gave Toni Preckwinkle an opening Thursday to brand her runoff opponent as a “millionaire corporate lawyer” masquerading as a reformer.

Preckwinkle raised $5.4 million in Round One of the mayoral sweepstakes and has $4.7 million in the bank for the April 2 runoff. Lightfoot raised just $1.64 million and has $730,940 left to spend. But that didn’t stop the Preckwinkle campaign from trying to use Lightfoot’s $200,000 donation to herself to get down and dirty.

“Is this the type of principled reform Lori Lightfoot thinks Chicago is looking for? Where candidates can dump as much of their wealth as they want into a campaign instead of work to build grassroots support?” Preckwinkle campaign spokesperson Monica Trevino was quoted as saying in a statement.

“Corporate lawyer Lori Lightfoot doesn’t get it, because she’s a corporate lawyer who has taken the side of big special interests who would pay her big fees to do their dirty work.”

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/preckwinkle-lightfoot-campaign-contributions-chicago-mayor-election-2019/

March 1, 2019

Legislators aim to expand access to 'clean energy jobs'

State legislators are proposing a bill with the goal of expanding access to jobs in the renewable energy sector and getting Illinois as a whole to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

The Clean Energy Jobs Act, introduced in the Illinois Senate by Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, and in the House by Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, also aims to cut carbon emissions from the state’s power sector by 2030 and create steps to promote the use of electric cars and mass transit, instead of gasoline and diesel-powered automobiles.

House Bill 3624 currently has 35 sponsors and Senate Bill 2132 has 10.

Some of the bills’ provisions include allocating state money to new business tax incentives and workforce training in clean energy jobs. It would also give preferences to companies that implement ways to ensure equal representation in Illinois’ clean energy workforce.

Read more: https://www.sj-r.com/news/20190228/legislators-aim-to-expand-access-to-clean-energy-jobs